Utah’s win over BYU did more than settle a rivalry game. It pushed the Utes into a new spot in the College Football Playoff picture, and Tuesday night’s rankings only reinforced how far this season has come.
The Utes climbed to No. 2 in the second CFP rankings of the year, moving up one place and landing in the highest ranking in program history. With three weeks left in the regular season, Utah sits atop the Big 12 and remains the team everyone else in the league is chasing.
That rise came on the heels of Saturday’s victory over BYU, a result that gave Utah its second win over a top-25 opponent and kept Morgan Scalley’s team unbeaten. It also helped fuel a Heisman push for quarterback Devon Dampier. ESPN lists Utah with the fifth-best odds to reach the College Football Playoff, but Scalley made it clear the message inside the program hasn’t changed.
"Every game matters," Scalley said. "You don't know when someone is going to upset you.
When one game matters versus the other - every game matters. So the way we prepare our guys, the way we message it throughout the week, it's no different from week to week."
Utah gets another chance to strengthen its résumé Saturday when it travels to Tucson to face Arizona, led by Noah Fifita. The Wildcats are still in the mix for a Big 12 championship appearance, which gives the matchup another layer of weight.
BYU, meanwhile, slipped only one spot after the loss to Utah, falling to No. 10.
The committee appears to be giving the Cougars credit for how close that game was, along with their win over Notre Dame, which beat previously ranked No. 1 Miami.
Miami dropped to No. 7 this week.
The Cougars still have an outside path to the Big 12 title game and a playoff berth, but they’ll need help elsewhere to get there.
Texas Tech also moved up, climbing to No. 12 after a shootout win over West Virginia. The Red Raiders still control their own fate and could line up against Utah in Arlington to defend their 2025 Big 12 title.
Behind Utah, BYU and Texas Tech in the rankings are No. 14 Houston, No.
23 Arizona and No. 25 Oklahoma State, which entered the rankings for the first time this season.
Monday night at practice, Utah players got a lighter kind of reward for the weekend’s work. As they left the indoor facility, they found a table stacked with Pop-Tarts boxes waiting for them after being named the Pop-Tarts Bowl "crazy good" team of the week. Several players quickly grabbed boxes and celebrated the small prize after a big win.
In Other News...
BYU Could Be Getting Two Key Starters Back At The Right Time
BYUs depth chart for the Baylor game offered a welcome bit of movement, with running back LJ Martin and cornerback Evan Johnson both appearing for the first time since injuries knocked them out. Martin already eased back in last week with limited touches, and his presence now points to a bigger workload as the Cougars try to settle back into a rhythm on offense. Johnsons return to the chart is just as notable on the other side of the ball, especially after he missed the last two games.
There is still some uncertainty layered into the update, though, because tight end Roger Saleapaga is also listed despite his recent injury. For BYU, the timing matters as much as the names themselves, with the Cougars heading into a matchup where reinforcements at key spots could help stabilize both the ground game and the secondary. The only question now is how much each player can actually handle once the game starts. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Became Part Of A Brutal Utah Milestone
BYUs latest trip through the rivalry left it on the wrong side of a significant Utah moment, as the Utes moved up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 after beating the Cougars. It is the highest ranking in Utah program history, and it comes with the kind of momentum that can reshape a season in a hurry, especially when the team at the center of it is still trying to keep its focus on the week-to-week grind.
Morgan Scalley said the message inside the Utah program remains the same: treat every opponent the same and keep working on the parts of the game that still need cleaning up. The next test is a road date with No. 22 Arizona, which gives the Utes another ranked matchup and another chance to prove this climb is about more than one big win over BYU. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Freshman Bruce Branch Is Drawing An AJ Dybantsa Question
Kevin Youngs ability to land elite talent has already changed the conversation around BYU mens basketball, and the latest name drawing attention is freshman Bruce Branch III. Branch, a top prospect who reclassified to 2026, has started to show more in recent games, and Young has pointed to the kind of defensive upside that can make a young player valuable long before the offense fully catches up.
The comparison naturally brings up AJ Dybantsa, the one-and-done star BYU secured in December 2024 before he went on to lead the nation in scoring and become the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Young has even described Branchs style in similar terms, which only adds to the intrigue around how he develops the freshman early and how quickly that progress might show up in a BYU rotation built around high-end recruits. [Read more 🡒]